apart from my bad grammar, how close do you think president obama and speaker boehner are to a deal? and from your perspective, is a bad deal better than no deal? >> a bad deal is a bad deal and we shouldn't accept it. republicans have the problem that all of the polls show the vast majority of american people, and people who have done well in america should do well by america and start paying america back. this tax break, even george bush didn't want it to be permanent. somehow, republicans have gotten hung up on this one thing, turning tax law into theology. they can't let it go. it has united the democratic party against them, and now mostly american people are on the debate. we can't talk about spending until we get out of the corner. >> how much of the republican opposition is based on principle, to the raising of taxes on the weltiest is based on principle and how much is based on a fear that they may face a challenge from more conservatives in the party? >> i think it's impossible to know the second one. there are a number of people in potentially vulnerable situations where t